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Arts & Communication Agnew family and 19 -century art market
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consumer psychology and art market conditions, offered In addition to its high-priced artwork, another significant
varied categories of artworks in response to supply- business concern of Agnew’s Gallery was its printing service.
demand dynamics. In the early and middle periods of this Obtaining prints was another way for ordinary people to
era, the middle class strongly preferred landscape works enter the art market. During the 19 -century, prints and
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and watercolors, whereas old masterworks were low in reproductions of masterpieces became integral to the home
demand. However, in the later period, with the enactment decor of the middle class and affluent peasants. A traveler
of relevant laws and promotion of exhibitions featuring old once described what he saw in southern England as follows:
masters, the authenticity of the supply was better assured, “Their farmhouses all had an extra drawing room filled with
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leading to shifts in collectors’ tastes once again. ostentatious sofas and prints in gilded frames.” Publishers
engaged artists to illustrate novels and independent works,
4. The gateway to entering the art market such as books, annuals, and souvenirs, which were particularly
In 1877, Agnew’s Gallery moved from Waterloo Place to favored by middle-class women. Consequently, copyrights in
Bond Street in London, facing a larger population and artistic works emerged as a new commodity. In 1855, Thomas
increased competition. The aristocratic collectors of the Agnew published a print of Clarkson Stanfield’s painting
18 and early 19 -centuries were not inclined to trust “H.M.S. Victory.” In 1873, William Agnew paid £10,500 to
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dealers and preferred direct purchases from artists or William Homan Hunt (1827 – 1910) to acquire the copyright
select agents. It was the emerging middle class that relied for “The Shadow of Death” (Figure 3), the highest price ever
on galleries and dealers for their purchases. paid for the copyright for a work of art at the time. The sales
revenue from the initial version alone exceeded £20,000.
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As Bourdieu highlights, taste is a historical product The prevalence of copyright acquisition and reproduction
reproduced by education. Works of art can express infinite sales by a distributor demonstrates the art consumption
nuances through divisions of genre, era, technique, and capacity of the lower strata of society during the Victorian
creator, among others. Specialized knowledge is required era. Despite the relatively modest profit margin for prints
to differentiate works of art and interpret their differences. and collections of illustrations, the substantial volume still
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When art became classified as a luxury product, acquiring yielded considerable profits.
artwork became a means of attaining fame and status. For These phenomena had been nearly non-existent in
the upper class, the threshold of economic privilege and previous centuries; however, during the 19 -century, the
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access to the knowledge necessary to cultivate artistic culture of art consumption became widespread across all
appreciation also erected class barriers. New collectors levels of society. Agnew’s Gallery played pivotal roles in
often lacked this refined taste, necessitating the assistance the art market, helping the middle class overcome market
of dealers and participation in exhibitions to help them barriers and guiding collectors lacking artistic education to
navigate and enter the art market. establish collections. This assistance broke down identity
The inclination of collectors toward purchasing restrictions, providing channels for art consumption and
artworks through dealers was tied to the conditions market entry for the lower and middle classes.
prevailing in art auction houses at the time. Dealers
continued to dominate as the primary clientele of these
auction houses, and each prominent dealer in the London
market had their own distinct areas of specialization.
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Data show that William Agnew participated as a bidder in
748 separate auctions. Agnew’s Gallery employed a clear
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pricing structure for auction transactions: clients could
either select a work, with the gallery bidding on their
behalf in the auction and charging a 5% commission, or the
gallery could choose works, bid on them in auctions, and
the client would then select and purchase from Agnew’s
inventory, with Agnew receiving a 10% commission.
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The auction house’s customers were mainly dealers who
adopted a non-competitive buying strategy. Each trader
had a niche and rarely infringed on others. Middle-class Figure 3. (Left) “The Shadow of Death,” William Holman Hunt, 1873 – 74,
collectors who were new to the art market preferred 104.5 × 82 cm, oil on panel; (right) early proof of the print, 130 × 100 cm,
mixed-method engraving on ivory chine laid down on off-white plate
to authorize these experienced dealers to conduct art paper. Copyright © Art Institute of Chicago. Reprinted with permission
transactions. of the Art Institute of Chicago

Volume 2 Issue 4 (2024) 5 doi: 10.36922/ac.2872